Health clinic will aid those in need

Family practice will be at little or no cost

NATIONAL CITY  In a community where health insurance is lacking and doctor visits often happen in the emergency room, a new health clinic will soon open at Granger Junior High School.

Operation Samahan will run the community health center, which will be in the former school library.

Students, parents and nearby community members will have access to the family practice at little to no cost, said Brian Hayes, Operation Samahan’s youth program manager.

“We are starting off part time with 20 hours a week,” Hayes said. “We’re hoping to be open every day from 12 to 4 p.m. We don’t want to have to make kids leave school to obtain care.”

Services will include sports medicine, vaccinations and testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

Eventually, dental services will be offered at the clinic, which is waiting on one last permit before it opens to the public in a few weeks, Hayes said.

The vision for a clinic at Granger Junior High has been in the works for about four years when former Granger Principal Susan Mitchell expressed a need for children in the area.

“There are no doctor’s offices on the hill,” she said, referring to Lincoln Acres, an unincorporated area of the county that borders National City and the school. “It’s a four-hour bus ride to and from Children’s Hospital.”

Because poverty is pervasive throughout the community, many families lack transportation to get to regular doctor’s appointments, said Mitchell, who is now executive director of middle schools for the Sweetwater Union High School District.

“For single moms, it’s rent or a car,” Mitchell said. “Health insurance takes the back burner.”

Mitchel said she noticed parents were concerned their children had no health insurance and medical issues were being overlooked.

“There was no way to help their children with pregnancy issues and asthma,” she said. “The whole eyeglasses and dental care is something parents kept talking about.”

Mitchel lobbied the Sweetwater school board and district staff to think about using the vacant library as a clinic site. She eventually got Operation Samahan on board as well.

Operation Samahan was founded in 1973 to serve the Filipino-American community. The Granger clinic is the third medical facility for Samahan, which has its primary office on Highland Avenue, across from Sweetwater High School.

“We’re bringing hope that our children will have access to health care,” said Operation Samahan CEO Joel San Juan.

The former library underwent $150,000 worth of upgrades and includes two exam rooms, a restroom and a waiting area.